Steve's Outbox

a pair of tweezers and a keen eye!!!
we had a similar infestation and now all is well, and the birds loved eating all the caterpillars...hope it's dry for a while

wheeley bad idea

ours are growing at quite a rate, but we do feed them once a week.plenty of time before winter, although i must say it looks like winter at the moment down here in hampshire.

i also have one of these, it's 2years old , fruited last year , but didn't produce any new growth, so this year it did, which should mean fruit again next year. i was under the impression that once it had produced fruit , you cut back those shoots to the ground and it sends out new shoots which bear fruit the following year. so i cut mine back and nothing happened for a whole year!!it maybe that these plants take a few years to settle in , so don't panic , next year might be fine....steve

i look forward to autumn.......co's maybe we will get the summer we didn't get in SUMMER..lol......steve

terrific idea, spinach should come up faily quickly, as will lettuce.garlics can be planted up in oct, and usually sprout within a few weeks.

there are pests that attack onions/garlic , in fact just about anything that grows seems to have a pest attatched to it!!
do you rotate your crops, this is very important and is your 1st line of defence, before resorting to chemicals or sprays.
i have not had this problem , but i am sure others on this site will have , so hopefully you may get a more expert reply.

see if any of the neighbours would like to take it on as a veg garden.no rent , but they will clear it ,and you may even get some produce as a thank you!!

i would advise you get in tree surgeon's , they will take down the conifers and drill out the old stumps without destroying your house.it may cost a few hundred pounds , but it's money well spent.
start nearest the house and gradually move towards the bottom of the garden, that way you can see what space you have and once the decking is done, somewhere to sit and admire your handywork!
the bottom bit of garden.... i bet a few days work with a sythe or strimmer will work wonders, the beauty of 'cottage' gardens is there is no formal layout, so cut a few paths through the jungle , incorporate what is already there , you maybe surprised how good it will look with just a 'haircut'........good luck

best of luck with the allotment.....our veg patch was an overgrown wilderness that hadn't been touched for years, brambles , nettles , old fallen tree , even half an old dingy and a roll of carpet!! which is why we went for the raised bed idea. just dig in plenty of manure etc and crop rotate, and remember .... excercise is good for you.......steve

super photos jacque, i think i could take pics of our butterflies with an old black & white camera!! lol
nice close up shots, is that using macro ?

as soon as we dig up our potatoes, the ground will have a good load of manure dug in and in october we will plant out garlic cloves and onion set's to overwinter.spinach may be a good option, we sowed some seed 2 weeks ago and it's up already.

we have 2 buddleha's and i don't recall seeing any butterflies this summer , i know they are generally in decline , which is a great shame, they are so lovely to see, all we get now is those pesky cabbage whites.

open to suggestions!!
can't make our minds up, so we have left it as is, the hedge is nearly 3feet high and filling in nicely.this front area is north facing , the old stone (bottom right) was put there to protect the hedge from delivery van man!

could just be too wet for them , we have had a fair bit of rain!
you would normally lime before planting brassicas, which you can buy from your local garden centre.
not much you can do for the rotten or soft ones now other than eat what you can , and enjoy(hopefully)

mazz, keep an eye on the timing of your planting, you maybe a little late for runners , try some winter spinach & october is a good time to plant out garlics to overwinter, get these at your local garden centre. like your raised beds, you can grow more in a small space this way, it's worked for us, happy growing....steve

the green foliage will get taller and larger which should give you an idea of what is happening below ground, you can also scrape away the top surface and see how big the carrot top is , cover back up if you are not goung to pull it up.hope this helps

we have grown butternut squash and they were doing the same thing , cut each leader to about 5 feet and when you get some fruits , then feed once a week with a liquid feed to the roots. ours took a while to produce , at 1st the fruits just died , maybe not warm enough or not being fertilised from a male flower ?........hope you have some success

roasted veg , squash, courgette, pepper, onion &garlic added to pasta with a fresh pesto sauce and shavings of parmesan cheese........but that soup also looks good wohlibuli....now i'm torn!!

never had them on mine, but i plant garlic bulbs , so maybe different

they certainly are joannie, easier on the old back as well!! we are always experimenting on new veg , some we like some we won't be growing again, this year we have 9 butternut squashes growing on 3 plants .

thanks for the comments flcrazy, can't wait for it to 'fill in' a bit more , the 1st year we moved in it was fantastic but a lot died off , so i've pruned out a lot of dead wood and it's coming on fine.....steve

amazing well done, love this type of deep border with masses of different forms and colours .

japenese anemone , a very beautiful plant , a bit invasive but you can dig out the bit's you don't want , and keep it to a manageable size.

probably blackbirds!!, but in the 1st year you won't get many fruits anyway , keep them watered in summer and next year you should have a crop, but net them!

if it's only a few years old like mine , then maybe it put all it's efforts into growing, and not flowering, as mine did this year, looking forward to some flowers next year

butterfly resistant netting is the answer, but they will get in if there are any gaps. so i make a wooden frame and attatch the netting to this, but we still left a gap somewhere as i am finding out!!! must have got 50 of the blighters off this weekend, will have to try harder next year

as a root vegatable, i think they need to grow from seed and don't transplant , but if you had enough soil around the plant maybe it will be ok.they will take time to develop.....so give them a bit longer

i seem to recall there was an article in a local newspaper about gardening and mentioned GOY, so typed away and found a little gem!!

oh for a bit of sunshine, i'm so jealous!!
your home and garden is a credit to your hard work, now sit back and enjoy!!!!